SANCTUARY's WARREL DANE: 'I Have A Mad Amount Of Respect For DAVE MUSTAINE'

Warrel Dane says that the upcoming SANCTUARY album will be "much faster and much thrashier" than the band's comeback effort, 2014's "The Year The Sun Died".

When "The Year The Sun Died" was first released, many people compared the disc to the most recent output from Dane's long-running-but-currently-inactive outfit NEVERMORE, a connection that the singer has steadfastly rejected.

"The music of SANCTUARY and the music of NEVERMORE I don't think sound anything alike," Warrel said during a July 8 appearance on Israel's "Met Al Metal" (hear audio below). "However, I will tell you that the new SANCTUARY songs that I've heard, that are being worked on, are much faster and much thrashier."

He continued: "I've heard a lot of people say ['The Year The Sun Died'] does sound a bit like NEVERMORE, but I put that on the fact that I'm singing in my lower register a lot of the time, and people associate that with NEVERMORE."

Dane also spoke about MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine, who helped get SANCTUARY signed to CBS/Epic Records, produced their first album (1988's "Refuge Denied"),and took them on the road with MEGADETH.

"I have to tell you: I have a mad amount of respect for Dave Mustaine," Warrel said. "He gets a really bad reputation in the press because of some of the stuff he says. I might not be on point with him as far as ideology and beliefs, but I have to give him respect, because he's pretty much the reason that I'm talking to you right now. He gave me a start in the music business, and it's not easy to get your foot in the door. And for that, I will always admire him."

Asked if he still keeps in touch with Mustaine, Dane said: "Kind of. I mean, I see him at festivals occasionally. NEVERMORE did the very first Gigantour in the U.S., and, yeah, I hung out with him a lot, and I see him at festivals, and, yeah, we're still friends. I mean, we're not best buddies or anything, but he's still approachable."

SANCTUARY's last release was "Inception", the official prequel to 1988's classic debut "Refuge Denied".

"Inception" contains presumed lost 1986 studio recordings, which guitarist Lenny Rutledge discovered recently and which were magically restored, remixed and remastered by Chris "Zeuss" Harris (QUEENSRŸCHE, HATEBREED).

SANCTUARY recently recruited Attila Vörös (NEVERMORE) as its new second guitar player.